Ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) are well established in commercial and residential settings for shutting off electrical current when an imbalance of current occurs between the hot and neutral lines in a circuit. Another electrical protection device of growing interest is an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI). The AFCI detects arcing in an electrical circuit that may be caused by, among other things, a loose wire connection at an outlet, damaged electrical wires, or faulty wiring in an appliance. When the arcing condition is detected, the AFCI interrupts the circuit, providing some level of protection against the arcing developing into a fire.
Testing AFCIs falls into several general categories including end-of-line testing, self-testing, and performance testing. End-of-line testing is performed in a manufacturing process to confirm operation of the AFCI device. A tester in such an environment need only provide an arc or waveform that fits any characteristic of an arc fault such that it causes a properly functioning AFCI to open. Similarly, self-testing requires generating any single waveform that will trigger a functioning AFCI.
Performance testing, on the other hand, should test the AFCI over a wide range of arc fault conditions with good repeatability so that the design and implementation of an AFCI can be accurately characterized.
Most end-of-line testers and some performance testers use mechanical techniques to actually draw a physical arc using prepared samples of cable or other techniques. While this may be effective at providing a real-world arc, it neither provides a range of arc profiles nor provides a repeatable test environment for performance testing.